Conveyer



Dec, 31, 1929. HANSEN 1,741,624

' GONVEYER Filed March 21. 1928 3, Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

@ ATTORNEY" 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 31, 1929. F. A. HANSEN CONVEYER Filed March 21. 1928 INVENTOR. Z flfiflmsefl,

ATTORNEY Dec. 31, 1929. F. A. HANSEN CONVEYER 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed March 21. 1928 I .M. 7m. w

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ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 31, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FRED A. HANSEN, 0F 'MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR' TO HEVI DUTY ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, A. CORPORATION-OF WISCONSIN CONVEYER Application filed March 21, 1928. Serial No. 263,499.

My invention relates broadly to furnaces and more particularly to a construction of conveyer for furnaces.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a construction of conveyer for facilitating the loading and unloading of a furnace with minimum loss of heat during the loading operation.

Another object of my, invention is to pro+ vide. a movable shelf conveyer positioned at the front, of a furnace andshiftable from a loading position remote from the furnace to an unloadingposition,adjacent the furnace for delivering or receiving a charge to or from the furnace,

Still another object of my invention is to provide a construction of movable shelf conveyer with locking mechanism for fixing the conveyer, in either oneof two limiting positions with respect to the furnace during loading and unloading periods for facilitating the delivery or removal of a charge to or from the furnace with minimum expenditure of energy and with minimum loss of heat from the furnace.

A further object of my invention is to provide aconstruction ofvloadingnand unloading platform for a chamber or for a furnace for facilitating the delivering; and removal of a charge of relatively large. mass to or from the furnace.

A still further objectof my invention is to provide a construction of. hearth for con.- veyers cooperating with a shiftable conveyer at the, front of, the furnace for facilitating the insertion or removal of a'charge into or from the furnace. v

Other and further ob ects of my invention reside in the construction of conveyer set forth in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings. in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the conveyer of my invention applied to an electric heat treatment furnace; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view through the conveyer and through a portion of the furnace; Fig. 3 is'a lateral cross-sectional view through the conveyertaken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 shows a modified" construction of conveyer shelf and hearth for the furnace; and Fig. 5' is a lateral cross-sectional view of the modified form of shelf conveyer taken on line 55-of Fig. 4.

My invention is directed to a construction of movablework-conveying loading shelf for.

operation in combination with a furnace to facilitate loading and unloading and to accomplish the maximum economy by reducing the time necessary in holding a furnace door open during the loading cycle.

In the handling of large-bulktobe heat treated, such as in miscellaneous steel castings-to be annealed, it is often necessary to stack such parts of the charge carefully in the smallest possiblespace so as-to increase the weight of charge. or bulk comprising the charge in a furnace during any one heat. This cannot be done inside the furnace. For such purposes, it has been common practice to use car bottom types offurnaces which are expensive in initial cost and not as economical in operation as a furnace having an integral part of the furnace forming the bottom of the furnace. The latter type of furnace, having a lateral or end opening is termed a box furnace. The movable shelf ofmy invention facilitates the loading and unloading of a box furnace.

In other classes of work, such as in handling individual or multiple number of pieces, in which the individual unit of the charge is of large bulk and great weight, such as vthe customary form, of case hardening or carburizing boxes, electrically powered loading trucks of the elevating type are used to a considerable extent. Such loading trucks are idle a, considerable portion of the time. The movable loading shelf of my invention takes the place of such loadingtrucks at a much lower initial cost of equipment, installation and operation.

Furnaces for handling smaller pieces such as dies'tobe hardened or annealed are usually equipped with a stationary type of shelf on which the piece to be heat treated is placed prior to theopeningyof the door, and the piece comprising the charge is then lifted from such loading shelf onto its final l'oca tionfor heat treatment. By use of the movable loading shelf of my invention the charge can be deposited on the movable loading shelf prior to the door opening and after the door has been opened the charge is readily conveyed to proximity with the hearth of the furnace where the charge can be more readily slid into its final heat treating position, thus avoiding the lifting of such charge from the shelf to the hearth of the furnace.

My invention contemplates two forms of movable loading shelves, one in which the top or platform is of a plane horizontal surface and the other in which the loading or top surface of the movable shelf is provided with a plurality of rollers or wheels to assist inthe sliding of the charge from the shelf to the furnace.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the furnace walls are represented at 5, enclosing a furnace chamber 6, facing brick or door j ambs 7 of the customary type, forming the opening to the furnace chamber at 37 w1thin which the heating elements 36 are arranged.

Reference character 9 represents a movable loading shelf formed by top plate or platform 10, fastened to end plates 11 by suitable bolts 54. The platform 10 rests upon the extremities 52 of the angularly disposed portions 51 of the end plates 11. The top plate 10 is spaced from the top edges of the sides 11 as represented at 53 allowing a true machining of thevarious parts. The top of the platform 10 is drilled and countersunk to receive bolts 54 which pass through the angularly disposed portions 51 of the end plates 11. End plates 11 have flanged wheels 13 secured to transversely extending shaft members 14, permitting the free rotation of the wheels. As shown in the drawings the end plates 11 also provide means for journaling a shaft 55 which eXtends parallel to shaft 14. The shaft 55 carries flat face wheels 15 which enthe under surfaces of rails 17 on the upper portion of which the flanged wheels 18 travel. The combination of flanged wheels 13 and wheels 15 acting on opposite portions of rails 17 prevents accidental dis lodgment of the loading shelf.

Attached also to end plates 11 using one shaft 14 of wheels 13 as a pivotal or fulcrum point, is a movable handle or lever 18. Lever 18 has attached, by means of a pin and slot connection 19, a liftable latch bar 20 adja cent each side of the end plates 11 and engageable in apertures 21 in angle plates 58 carried by rails 17 apertures 56 in laterally extending lugs 57 and apertures 60 in angularly disposed plate portions 51. Lifting of l ver 18 disenga es latch pins 20 from holes 21 in angle plate 58, and permits the moving of i to the loading and unloading positions, the loading position being shown by dotted outline at 28 in Fig. 2. The lowering of lever 18 engages latch pins 20 in apertures 22 or 21 depending upon the position of the 59 limit the downward movement of latch pins 20 but are so positioned as to permit latch pins 20 to be withdrawn clear of the angle plates 58 in effecting a shift in position of the loading platform. The latch pins 20 are selected of such length as to have their upper extremities housed within aperture 60 in angularly disposed plate portions 51, through which apertures the latch pins are free to move vertically upon movement of lever 18.

In Fig. 2 the dotted outline 23 on shelf 9 represents a charge 23 such as a carburizing box. Starting with the charge 23 on shelf 9 in the position 23 of shelf 9, as shown, the raising of lever 18 disengages latch pin 20 and permits the movement of loading shelf to position in proximity with hearth 24 of the furnace. where the charge 23 is moved to its final position within the furnace by sliding the charge along plate 10 and hearth 24. To facilitate the loading and unloading of the furnace I may provide a base 33 within the furnace having trunnions 34 therein in which the rollers are journaled for rotation under the movement of a load into or out of the furnace as shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate a modified form of movable loading shelf. Attached to plate 10 are suitable castings 26 having U shaped bearings receiving axles or trunnions 28 of rollers or wheels 29. Such trunnions or axles 28 may be cast integral with rollers or wheels 29, or they may be of any suitable form, such as arolled shaft pressed into wheels or rollers 29. I

Referencecharacter 30 shows a convenient rack or tray having upturned flanges 31 at the edges thereof to prevent shifting of any charge that may be placed in such tray. On

the underside of such trays are shown two ribs 32 forming a groove which engages one line of rollers 29 to keep the tray in alignment while it is being moved from one position to another.

In Fig. 1 I have shown the conveyer of my invention installed with reference to the entrance of a heat treatment furnaceindicated at 40. The rails 17 extend longitudinally from the front of the furnace structure, and an end plate 47 is provided across the rails for limiting the outward movement of the conveyer. The rails 17 are supported by bracket members 46 connected to suitable points on the under-structure 41 which supports the furnace. The furnace is provided with a drop door 38 controlled by counterweight 45 pivoted with respect to shaft 43 and extending from the segment 44. The conveyer-platform 10 has been shown moved to a position for delivering a charge to the furnace or receiving a charge from the furnace. he platform 10 may be shifted to a position remote from the furnace and locked in such remote position, as hereinbefore described.

The conveyer structure of my invention has been found to be extremely practical in its manufacture, assembly and use, and while I have described preferred embodiments of my invention I desire that it be understood that modifications may be made and that no limitations upon my invention are intended other than are imposed by the scope of the ap pended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is as follows:

1. A conveyer for delivering and removing charges to and from a furnace comprising a furnace structure, rails extending longitudinally from said furnace structure, brackets connected adjacent the remote ends of said rails for supporting said rails from said furnace structure, a car having rollers carried thereon and engaging said rails, rod members mounted vertically on each side of said car and normally engaging said brackets, and pivotally mounted levers engaging said rod members for shifting the rod members vertically and withdrawing said rod members out of engagement with said brackets for shifting said car to either of two limiting positions along said rails.

2. In a conveyer system a heat treatment apparatus, rails extending longitudinally from said heat treatment apparatus, laterally extending brackets carried by said rails, a car structure including a frame having a plurality of rollers journaled thereon and engaging said rails, lateral projections on each side of said frame extending over said brackets, vertically movable rod members carried by the sides of said frame and passing through the laterally extending brackets thereof, and each normally engageable in interlocked positions with respect to said brackets, and means j ournaled on said frame for shifting said rod members out of engagement with said brackets for effecting the movement of said car structure from a position adjacent said heat treatment apparatus to a position remote therefrom.

3. A conveyer for heat treatment apparatus comprising a heat treatment chamber, rails projecting longitudinally from a position adjacent said chamber, a frame structure having a plurality of rollers ournaled thereon and engaging opposite sides of said rails, laterally extending brackets secured to the sides of said rails, laterally extending lugs in said frame structure extending over said laterally extending brackets, vertically movable rod members slidably positioned in said lugs and in said frame structure and engageable in either of two limiting positions with said brackets for maintaining said frame in a predetermined position with respect to said In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

FRED A. HANSEN. 

